Kayla Olson

From the author of The Sandcastle Empire comes a sci-fi thriller that’s equal parts Illuminae and One of Us Is Lying. Lindley Hamilton has been the leader of the space station Lusca since every first generation crew member on board, including her mother, the commander, was killed by a deadly virus. Lindley always assumed she’d captain the Lusca one day, but she never thought that day would come so soon. And she never thought it would be like this—struggling to survive every day, learning how to keep the Lusca running, figuring out how to communicate with Earth, making sure they don’t run out of food. When a member of the surviving second generation dies from symptoms that look just like the deadly virus, though, Lindley feels her world shrinking even smaller. And as more people die, Lindley must face the terrifying reality—that either the virus has mutated, or one of their own is a killer.

This Splintered Silence

Belle Ellrich

*I WAS PROVIDED WITH A PHYSICAL ARC BY THE LOVELY AUTHOR FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY HONEST OPINION*

Kayla Olson has been the slayer of words since The Sandcastle Empire released, and even maybe before that. Her books have always brought about the one, main questions: what would happen if this were to be our future?

This Splintered Silence is focused solely in space. Teenagers—of all people—are living aboard a space station that has been plagued by death and grief. A pathogen named CRW-0001 took the lives of their parents and mentors, rendering them helpless.

"One hundred stars have gone out in the past six weeks, extinguished and smothered and choked and simply—whoosh—blown out—by the CRW-0001 pathogen."

Thank God the captain and her team had children, am I right?

Lindley—already known as a badass character just from how she's described—is the new captain of the ship. She is one of the oldest (I believe?) and the one most put together from what we can tell. She was born to be a leader, as most would say.

But every leader has their faults, and it's important that they know and face those faults.

Throughout the first few chapters, we learn what happened to the original wave of station workers. But then we learn that one from the second generation has joined the ranks. This is where things begin to slow down a bit.

I had a hard time getting through the chapters after the first second-generation born was found dead, but quickly found things speeding up within no time. Lindley and her team are brilliant, some of the best in their class.

I had a feeling this book was mostly character-driven, and I believe I was right. This is a good thing, though. While the plot was amazing and I absolutely love how it was coordinated and executed, I loved how the characters really drove things forward. Every turn you took on these pages, another person went up in your suspicions. Another worry was added here and there, and I loved how the ending turned out.

It was a thrilling ride to take, and I wouldn't hesitate to take a second one.

My rating for This Splintered Silence is 4.5/5 stars.

Lisa Beasley

I really enjoyed this. Space science fiction mystery drama with interesting characters and definitely a story which keeps you guessing. Very good and highly recommend.

Lauren James

Full review on my blog, Storied Adventures

4.5 stars, but only because the ending felt slightly rushed! BUT I LOVED this book! Kayla Olson is a traditional storyteller. Her writing feels nostalgic. I don't know how to explain it. She is a plot driven author and usually I am a character driven reader but she still sucks me in! I love it. I even got readers anxiety which usually means that that book will end up as one of my favorites! Even though I didn't agree with some of the decisions the characters made, I still understood why they chose what they did. I also loved that I could never figure out who the killer was OR how they were going to not die when things went wrong. Like, everything went wrong. It was a ride. I loved every minute!

Liz Griffin

5 out of 5 stars! A stand-alone YA science fiction thriller with hints of romance, you won't want to put this one down! Read on for a spoiler-free review.

First off, I thought this book had phenomenal pacing. It does not let up from the very first paragraph all the way to the final chapter, and yet at the same time it is a superb example of the scene-sequel writing concept (action followed by response/reflection), done so well that it would make my fiction writing coach swoon. I also appreciate that the sources of interpersonal conflict are not ALL due to miscommunication or withholding information, as is so often the case in YA, it seems like. The action and conflict heighten smoothly as things get progressively worse for the surviving crew.

The second element I have to applaud is the characterization. Lindley is a driven, intelligent protagonist with a "won't know if it's done right unless I do it myself" attitude that I can absolutely relate to. All 6 of the leading cast have distinct personalities, skills, and breaking points or "hills they will die on" in terms of how the station is run.

And lastly... the romance. Because yes, where would our plucky female protagonist be without two young men to pine over her? I will give nothing away except to say that I rooted for one of them from the beginning, but what I found skillful is that Olsen sets up every one of Lindley's five closest friends as legitimate suspects, including both love interests.

This Splintered Silence

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